


New Beginnings

by HopeSilverheart



Series: Loving Em at 2AM [63]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Criminals, BAMF Aline Penhallow, Banter, Confident Aline Penhallow, Crimes & Criminals, F/F, First Kiss, First Meet, Flirting, Humour, Insecure Helen Blackthorn, Mentions of Violence, Organized Crime, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:15:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25251475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopeSilverheart/pseuds/HopeSilverheart
Summary: Walking towards them at a steady pace was a young woman with dark hair, dark eyes, and a pout on her lips. She stuck her tongue out at Jem as she sidled up to Helen, leaning against the secretary’s counter and looking Helen up and down as though she were evaluating her.“So you’re the infamous Helen Blackthorn Alec told us about,” Aline hummed, passing a cup of coffee over to Jem but never once letting her gaze stray from Helen’s face. “I have to say, he could have done a lot worse. Now, Jem, you’ll have to excuse me, but I can’t linger. I’m late enough as it is.”Or: When Helen and Aline meet for the first time, an instantaneous connection is formed.
Relationships: Helen Blackthorn/Aline Penhallow
Series: Loving Em at 2AM [63]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1764400
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	New Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thatnerdemryn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatnerdemryn/gifts).



Helen hadn’t thought this through.

When she had first contacted Alec Lightwood, a renown criminal whom she had found through less-than-legal channels, she hadn’t expected to get an answer. She had thought he would laugh in her face, tell her to find something better to do with her life, and forget all about her.

Instead, he had offered her a job. He had come to see her after work one day, had asked her to show him what assets she would bring to his organisation, and had watched intensely as she proved she wasn’t completely useless, before offering her a _job_. In a crime organisation.

Yes, it was what Helen had been looking for, but she hadn’t expected to be thrown into the Crime World so soon after realising it was a perfect fit for her lifestyle. As a woman whose entire family dedicated their lives to finding information, it had been ridiculously easy for her to make contacts in the criminal world, and now she was going to be right in the thick of it. She was going to be one of them.

She stared at the Lightwood building in front of her, taking a few deep breaths as she tried to calm herself enough to walk in without passing out on the spot. She knew there was no reason for her to be nervous, since Alec had assured her she would fit in just fine with the rest of his staff, but she still felt like she was about to step into something she wasn’t quite ready for.

It was that thought that finally gave her the strength to straighten up, gather her courage, and shake away the negative feelings trying to filter into her brain. She _was_ ready; she had been waiting to meet Alec for months, and she had been preparing for a life surrounded by criminals ever since that first day when she had realised journalism wasn’t for her.

Glancing at the building’s dull and unassuming façade one last time, Helen let a confident smile curl at her lips as she stepped up to the front door and walked into the Lightwood headquarters with her head held high. As long as no one knew about how nervous she had been to come in that morning, they couldn’t make fun of her. And more importantly, she didn’t come off as a cowardly idiot from the very start.

She wasn’t sure what she had been expecting from the lobby of a criminal organisation’s main building, but it wasn’t a place bursting with life. There were people milling around, sleep written all over their features but smiles on their faces as they talked to each other. Coffee was being passed around, and the secretary – or the man who Helen _assumed_ was the secretary – was staring at the dozens of people around him exasperatedly, as though this were a regular occurrence.

And then he spotted her. His eyes widened with recognition, and a bright smile made its way onto his face as he gestured for her to come over. He looked genuinely nice, so Helen took a few cautious steps in his direction and didn’t hesitate to shake his hand when he leaned over his desk.

“Hello there,” the man grinned. “You must be Helen Blackthorn. Alec has been gushing about his new recruit ever since he went out to interview last week, and a lot of us are looking forward to seeing what you’re capable of. It’s not exactly common for him to take care of new employees personally, so you must be something special. I’m James Carstairs, by the way, although feel free to call me Jem. And of course, welcome to the Lightwood organisation!”

“Thank you, Jem,” Helen said, flushing lightly at the warm welcome she was receiving. A few of the other employees had clearly heard Jem’ words and stopped by to say hello to her before moving towards the elevator in a huge clump of humans. “Everyone here seems to be very…”

“Friendly?” Jem chuckled, looking at the group fondly. “Yeah, we’re all basically family, so we have our routines and our habits and a tendency to get lost in inside jokes instead of doing our jobs. I’m sure you’ll find your place here in no time, since we don’t let newbies get lost in their heads and forget that they’re one of us, now. Because you are, you know?”

“I am?” Helen frowned. Honestly, this place was starting to feel less and less like a criminal organisation, what with their familial atmosphere and their apparent friendliness. “I mean yeah, I suppose I am. I just wasn’t sure if I would be put on a trial run, or if I would immediately start working full time, so…”

“Depends on whether or not Alec really needs you,” Jem shrugged. “There’s no telling what’s going to pop up over the next few days. Theoretically, you should be on trial for at least a week before you’re allowed to go out on missions alone, but it depends on what goes on outside. If some of our rivals act up or if the gangs get out of hand, or if there’s a full blown operation in the works… Well, you’ll have to see with him and whoever your supervisor is, really.”

“Supervisor?” Helen asked. Was she getting a _babysitter_?

Jem must have seen the indignant look on her face, because he laughed quietly as he shook his head.

“They won’t be guarding you 24/7, if that’s what you were wondering. They’ll mostly be there to help you fit in better, give you tips about whatever your specialty is, and teach you how the organisation works. They should be dropping by soon to give you a tour of the building, although it’s been ten minutes since your arrival was planned, which mean Alec probably chose Aline to take care of you. That woman is never on time.”

“Aline?” Helen inquired, feeling a bit stupid. The tone Jem had used made it clear Helen should have known who this Aline woman was, but she really hadn’t done that much research on the organisation, not wanting to get the wrong impression of them just because the news were biased. “Sorry, I know I should probably know who she is…”

“Eh, not especially,” Jem waved her concerns away. “Aline Penhallow is Alec’s left-hand woman, so she’s the third highest ranked person in the organisation. First is Alec, second is Lydia Branwell, and fourth is Isabelle Lightwood. After that, there are mostly teams of people who are better than others, but those four are untouchable. Isabelle Lightwood isn’t even part of the organisation yet, since she’s still a little young, but…”

“But she’s a Lightwood,” Helen finished in his place, nodding slowly. It was a little strange to think about an underaged girl having a better rank than her, but the Crime World was vastly different from the one she had grown up in. “Right, makes sense to me. And this Aline, what is she like?”

“Very late, for one,” Jem said, loudly enough that Helen turned around, wondering if someone else had entered the building.

Indeed, walking towards them at a steady pace was a young woman with dark hair, dark eyes, and a pout on her lips. She stuck her tongue out at Jem as she sidled up to Helen, leaning against the secretary’s counter and looking Helen up and down as though she were evaluating her.

“So _you’re_ the infamous Helen Blackthorn Alec told us about,” Aline hummed, passing a cup of coffee over to Jem but never once letting her gaze stray from Helen’s face. “I have to say, he could have done a lot worse. Now, Jem, you’ll have to excuse me, but I can’t linger. I’m late enough as it is.”

“Of course you are,” Jem rolled his eyes. “It’s why you bring me coffee every day, to make up for the fact that you never have time to talk to me. Someday, you’ll make it here early and see how nice it is to have a conversation with everyone before work. Or at least everyone who works the day shift.”

“In your dreams, Carstairs,” Aline chuckled, turning away from the secretary and walking towards the elevator hurriedly, only to stop and throw a glance over her shoulder. “You coming, Helen, or am I going to have to drag you upstairs myself? I wasn’t kidding when I said I was late, and Lydia is going to be annoying enough as is. The last thing I need is to add a few more lost minutes to my schedule.”

The blonde didn’t need to be told a second; she waved at Jem shyly before rushing after Aline, who almost closed the elevator doors in her face before Helen could slip in. She would have taken it the wrong way, but the other woman was grinning wickedly when she made it into the elevator, slightly breathless, so Helen had a feeling her actions weren’t anything more than some light teasing.

For a few moments, Helen wondered if they were going to spend their entire trip to wherever they were going in complete silence, but Aline clapped her hands suddenly and got rid of any lingering tension.

“Right so, I don’t know what Jem told you about me, but I want you to forget all of it,” she said cheerfully, tossing her hair over her shoulder haughtily as she spoke. “I’m the best woman in this building, second only to Lydia, and you’ll soon realise she’s a little too… Well, a little too Lydia to truly compete with me. All the higher-ups – and by all, I mean the three of us – are young, but we’re also your superiors, so don’t think we’ll hesitate to knock you down a few pegs if you disrespect us. I specialise in close combat and information gathering, which means I’m mostly sent on missions to get things out of people rather than kill-hits. It’s also the reason why we were paired together; Alec tells me you have plenty of contacts to tap into, and that’ll be very helpful.”

“I mean, some of them won’t be too open to working with a criminal organisation,” Helen felt the need to point out, not wanting to have people believe she was more useful than she actually was. “My contacts were mostly made when I was still working on the legal side of things, so…”

“Oh, Helen,” Aline chuckled lowly, patting Helen’s shoulder as they stepped out of the elevator. “That’s what torture is for. I’m not as skilled as Lydia and Alec are, but I can hold my own, and I get the information in the end, which is all that matters. Right, first lesson of the day! Whatever moral values you have, pick and choose wisely. When you’re a criminal, having boundaries is necessary, especially when you’re a Lightwood, but you can’t have too many either. Kids and innocents will always be out of bounds, and we try not to torture just for the sake of torturing, but you need to be ready to hurt people, kill people, blackmail people… I think you get the gist of things, right? And you also need to be ready to be and work for the lesser of two evils.”

“Meaning?” Helen frowned, focusing half on Aline’s words and half of the amazingly busy floor they had found themselves on.

“Meaning we’re still criminals, Helen,” Aline said seriously, dragging her away from what Helen now assumed was an operations centre and towards a room hidden at the back of a corridor. The small plaque on the door marked it as Aline’s office, which both made sense – since she was clearly important – and didn’t – since Helen had assumed it would be somewhere a little more obvious. “Helen?”

“Huh?”

“Right, I should have known you would want to admire this place a little bit,” Aline rolled her eyes. “The room we came from is the ops centre. Most field criminals hang out there when they’re not out on duty. The techs are on the first floor, the business employees on the second, Alec’s office and training rooms on the fourth, and the third is the most packed one, with all our criminal things. Weapons, mission ops, offices, sleeping areas… You got it?”

“Um, yeah,” Helen nodded slowly, repeating Aline’s words in her head a few times. She had a decent memory, but she was sure she would still get lost at least once in her first week there. Although, she supposed she would spend most of her time on the third floor, so it couldn’t be _that_ hard. “I’m sorry, what were you saying earlier? I should have been focusing a little more.”

“You should have, but I’ll forgive you this time because you’re new,” Aline said, smirking slightly as she added, “and because you’re cute.”

Helen spluttered, heat rising in her cheeks as she wondered whether or not this woman – Alec’s third in command, a dangerous criminal with plenty of skill and experience in her pocket – was actually flirting with her. Something to think about later, maybe, when she wasn’t trying to find her bearings in her new workplace.

“Hmm, anyways,” Aline said, tapping her fingers against her desk. “I was saying that as a criminal, you’re choosing the lesser of two evils, again and again and again. The Lightwoods are good people, and their employees are too, but that doesn’t mean we don’t do bad things. You’ll still be a killer by the end of your first month here, and you’ll make plenty of decisions that’ll make you question yourself. The physical part of the job is hard, but it’s the mental strain that makes or breaks a criminal. Do you think you can handle that?”

Helen hesitated, thinking about the life she had led so far. She had always been a reasonable person, someone who never broke the law, who lived by the rules and only rebelled when it was for the good of those around her. This, however, would be something else entirely. Which was why she had chosen it in the first place.

She needed to be doing something that challenged her, that made her think more, something that tested her strength of character over and over again. She had thought about it long and hard and, at the end of the day, she didn’t have a problem with killing someone who was guilty. She didn’t have a problem with torture if it meant the truth came out in the end. Maybe she would grow to resent herself a little bit, but at least she wouldn’t be boxing herself into a job she didn’t truly want.

“I can,” she nodded, refusing to flinch under Aline’s curious gaze. “I know I didn’t grow up a criminal, and I know it’s going to be an adjustment, but I think I can take it. It might be hard at first, and I won’t lie by saying my first kill will be easy for me, but I _chose_ this.”

“Oh yes, you did,” Aline said, a hint of pity flashing in her eyes. Helen wondered what _that_ was about. “And I hope you’re ready for the repercussions of that choice. No one in the organisation will criticize you, but some of the lower criminals in other organisations, those who were forced into the job by their families, _will_ resent you for it. Others will say you’re worse than all of us combined because we didn’t have a choice, whereas you did. No matter how long it takes you to adjust to the Crime World, it’ll take at least twice that amount for the Crime World to adjust to _you_.”

“That sounds… reasonable,” Helen murmured, although it really didn’t. Surely, they got plenty of new criminals all the time and wouldn’t focus on _her_ especially, right? “But what do you mean, ‘didn’t have a choice’. Was Alec forced into his position? Were you? Were all of the legacy children?”

“No,” Aline answered firmly, pride written all over her features. “No, we weren’t forced into anything. Alec, Isabelle, and I have known we wanted to be criminals ever since we were old enough to understand what our parents did for a living. As for those who don’t want to be involved in the family business, well… It really depends on who your family is. Alec let his brother go easily, since he only wanted him to be happy, but other people didn’t get a choice, which makes them particularly resentful.”

“Makes sense,” Helen said softly, thinking about how much she had resented her parents for pushing her to follow in their footsteps. “But I’m glad you weren’t forced, since that would have made this organisation a lot sadder.”

“We would have made one hell of a club,” Aline snorted. “But no, we were all very happy to start working here. The circumstances weren’t ideal, but Alec has been doing a wonderful job, firing all the crappy employees his parents kept for old times’ sake, and hiring a team of competent and loyal criminals. Honestly, the organisation is getting stronger by the minute. Valentine may still be at the top right now, but Alec is days away from overthrowing him. And no, you don’t want to know how that works.”

Helen snapped her mouth shut, nodding silently. If Aline said she didn’t want to know, then she _really_ didn’t want to know. Although she was at least reasonably certain that it didn’t involve murder, since that would be a little extreme.

“Now that that’s done, why don’t you tell me a little about yourself?” Aline grinned, leaning back on her desk and sending a sultry look Helen’s way.

Alright, so she was _definitely_ being wooed by this very attractive, very confident, very highly ranked woman. Aline was gazing at her like she wasn’t sure whether she wanted to talk to her or just devour her, and Helen couldn’t say she was complaining. It had been a while since she had let herself flirt with someone, accept their compliments, and just _live_.

Well, living was exactly what she had joined the organisation to do, wasn’t it?

“Nothing much to know,” Helen shrugged, placing her hands on the back of the chair separating Aline from her. “I grew up in a family of reporters, they expected me to follow in their footsteps, but I decided to change path halfway through my second year at university. I love my siblings, enjoy music and movies, long walks in the park, and beautiful women.”

A week ago, she wouldn’t have even thought about being so bold. She would have kept the comment reined in and pretended like she had no idea Aline was flirting with her. Hell, she probably would have pretended to be straight, since most of the people in her life weren’t aware of her sexuality and very, _very_ strong preference for women. Men were good from afar, but Helen couldn’t have cared less about them in an intimate setting.

“Oh you do, do you?” Aline asked huskily, and this time there was a definite hunger to her gaze. She let her eyes trail down Helen’s body slower than they had earlier, and the blonde woman held her breath for a minute, feeling like Aline could tell everything about her from a single look. “I have to say, I’m very glad to hear that. See, a lot of people here are… well, not straight, but none of them have ever quite been my type. You, on the other hand, are exactly what I’ve been looking for.”

“Really?” Helen bit down on her bottom lip, glancing at Aline from underneath her lashes. “How so?”

“First of all, you’re beautiful,” Aline said without preamble, smirking when Helen visibly shuddered. “You’ve got amazing eyes, silky hair that’s probably even softer than Lydia’s, and legs for days. You’re also smart and competent, or else Alec wouldn’t have hired you and, although you’ve been quite shy so far, I’m sure in a few weeks’ time, you’ll be just as sassy as all the reporters I’ve met in my life. And on top of all that, you’re my co-worker, which means you already know what I do for a living, _and_ I’ll get to see you wearing a thigh holster.”

Helen’s breath hitched as Aline placed one of her legs on the chair, putting her own holster on display. Maybe Helen shouldn’t have found the sight of a gun strapped to a woman’s thigh so attractive, but _holy hell_ , she really did.

“Hmm, so I see I’m not the only one who can appreciate the wonders of these babies,” Aline chuckled darkly. “The things I could show you if we explored this tentative thing that’s sparked between us. I won’t lie and say that I’m the perfect woman, because I’m a bit too murderous and dangerous for that, but you clearly don’t mind.”

“I really, really don’t mind,” Helen breathed out, her eyes snapping back up to Aline’s piercing gaze. “Besides, I won’t be perfect for much longer, if I ever was in the first place. It would be a bit hypocritical of me to judge you for what you do and have done when I’m about to start doing the same thing, don’t you think?”

“Oh, it would be,” Aline laughed lightly. “But there are plenty of hypocrites in the business, trust me. However, since we’ve established that neither of us really care about what the other does for the organisation, how about we skip to the interesting part of our conversation. Tell me, Helen, does a date sound like a good idea to you?”

The way Aline said her name was sinful, but it was the question that followed that truly made Helen’s heart skip a beat. How long had it been since she had last gone on a date? How long since she had last felt genuine and requited attraction for someone? How long since she had forgotten about her family’s expectations and just let herself go for a while?

She didn’t know, but she wasn’t about to mess up such a perfect chance.

“A date sounds wonderful,” she replied softly, tapping her fingers against the back of the chair and tightening them when Aline leaned forward, placing her second leg on the chair until she was kneeling on it. That way, she was just slightly taller than Helen, and she was gazing at her like she wanted to kiss her, and Helen-

Helen really wanted to kiss her too.

“Would it be wrong of me to steal a kiss before our first date?” Helen asked, surprising herself with her own initiative. “I know it’s not very gentlewomanly, but I have a feeling you might not care about that as much as other people- _hmph_.”

Aline’s lips covered her own, and Helen’s words caught in her throat. The brunette was warm against her, her hands having come up to cup Helen’s neck, and Helen felt a little bit like she was drowning in something. In herself, maybe, or in Aline – definitely. They didn’t kiss for long, but the taste of it lingered even once Aline pulled away and smile brightly at Helen.

“To keep you going until that first date,” Aline said, tapping her nose gently before standing up and straightening her clothes as though nothing had happened. “Ask someone to give you my phone number and call me when you’re feeling up to going out. Now, you need to go see Aria about weapons, and I have a very busy day ahead of me, which has only gotten busier thanks to you.”

“I- Aren’t we supposed to work together?” Helen blurted out before she could think about how eager her words would sound. Her cheeks reddened but, when she looked up at Aline, the other woman only seemed slightly amused and very fond.

“We will be working together,” Aline assured her, taking a seat behind her desk. “Simply not today. Now go on, you have places to be, people to meet, and things to do. I’ll still be here, waiting for my beautiful criminal in shining armour to come back to me and – if I’m lucky – bless me with another kiss.”

“I would bless you with a thousand kisses if that was what you wanted,” Helen breathed out, trying to ignore the feeling of her face burning up even further. “I’ll see you around, Aline, and I hope you look forward to that first date as much as I already do.”

And then she was rushing out of the room, not waiting for the brunette to say anything else. Aline was stunning and wonderful and there was clearly something between them, but Helen didn’t know how much she could handle at once, especially when she still had so many other things to get used to within the organisation.

For now, she just had to get through the day and let the memory of Aline’s lips against hers, and of Aline’s breath ghosting against her cheek get her through whatever trials she would have to deal with as she settled into her life as a criminal.

Helen touched her mouth one last time, a smile curling at the edges of her lips, and then she was hurrying towards the operations centre, ready to get started on her new beginning.

**Author's Note:**

> Heya guys! Thank you so much for reading! This fic is long overdue, since I've been making Heline suffer without actually giving their backstory, so here it is! They're a big part of the multi-chaptered fic, so I really wanted to explore their origins. I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> Love, Junie. 
> 
> (find me on tumblr @hopesilverheart)


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